Latest News

11 June 2009:

• TAL for Excel is updated to version 2.81 (minor update)

21 Aug. 02:

• TAL for Windows is updated to version 4.2 today!
• TAL source code is updated to version 1.2 today!

5 Jul. 01:

• Added the soil classification scheme as proposed by Shepard (1954). You can get the file in the website of TAL for Windows or TAL source code.

27 Apr. 01:

• TAL for Windows is updated to version 4.01 today!

18 Apr. 01:

• TAL source code is updated to version 1.1
• Added data files for the German soil classification schemes.

17 Mar. 01:

• TAL for Windows version 4.0 is released today!
• Trixcel by J. Furrer is modified and translated into English. This is an add-in to draw triangle charts in Excel.

Read old news here

What is Texture AutoLookup (TAL)?

    TAL is a group of programs to determine soil texture classes based on four major soil classification schemes:

1. USDA (U.S. Dept. of Agric.)
2. UK (England & Wales)
3. Canada
4. International

    In addition, TAL for Windows now includes seven more classification schemes, and supports custom (user-defined) soil classification schemes.

    There are four members in the TAL family:

Programs	Web Site	Latest Version	Release Date
TAL for Excel	go!	2.81	11 Jun. 2009
TAL for Windows	go!	4.2	21 Aug. 2002
TAL for Psion 5/5mx	go!	2.8	2 Nov. 2000
TAL for Lotus 123	go!	1.0b	28 Oct. 1998
C++ Source Code
Object-oriented code	go!	1.2	21 Aug. 2002

Publications

    TAL was published in:

• Teh, C.B.S. & Rashid, M.A. 2003. Object-oriented code to lookup soil texture classes based on any soil classification scheme. Communications in Soil and Plant Analysis. 34: 1-11.
• TEH, C.B.S. 2002. A computer program to determine the soil texture class for any classification scheme. Agro-Search. 9: 19-21.
• Christopher, T.B.S., and A.M. Mokhtaruddin. 1996. A computer program to determine soil textural class in 1-2-3 for Windows and Excel. Communications in Soil and Plant Analysis. 27:2315-2319.

Since its publication, TAL has been cited in:

• Gee, G.W., and D. Orr. 2002. Particle-size analysis. In: J.H. Dane and G.C. Topp (ed.) Methods of soil analysis. Part 4 - Physical methods. Soil Sci. Soc. Am. Book Ser. 5. SSSA, Madison, WI, pp. 255-293.
• Loveland, P.J., and W. R. Whalley. 2000. Particle size analysis. In K.A. Smith and C. E. Mullins (ed.) Soil and environmental analysis: physical methods (Books in soils, plants, and the environment). 2nd. revised & expanded edition. Marcel Dekker, New York, pp. 281-314.
• Gerakis, A., and B. Baer. 1999. A computer program for soil textural classification. Soil Sci. Soc. Am. J. 63:807-808.

In addition, this website has been linked to by 150 (and counting) other websites.

 Links to other sites

Subscribe to TAL mailing list

    If you wish to be informed about TAL's progress, bug reports and fixes, why not join TAL's mailing list? This mailing list is for users who are interested to know when TAL's next version will be out, any problems (bugs) and fixes. Mail traffic is intentionally kept very low (perhaps 1-2 emails every few months).

Problems, Suggestions, Comments?

    If you have questions or have trouble using any of the TAL programs, please let me know. I would like to see TAL programs improved further so it is even easier to use and implements as many soil classification schemes as possible.

updated: 12-Jun-2009